27 hours in vancouver

we got home from vancouver on monday night, but ashford came down with a fever while we were there, so we've been having some sick days at home since then. at least he wasn't missing school this week. we finally ventured out of the house yesterday and went to an imax movie at the science museum with our friends from azalea's school. it snowed here yesterday, too! it's been really cold for seattle. thatcher is now sick, so i hope azalea and i don't get it. now onto the recap...

this was our second trip to vancouver as a family (thatcher and i have both been there 1-2 other times without the kids). i know i always rave about this city, but i just can't help it. it's so beautiful there! it's one of those places where you look around, thinking "how is this place even real?" it makes me so happy to live a 2-3 hour drive away. 

we left sunday morning and got to the border around 11am. there were lots of areas of fresh fallen snow as we drove north on I5.  it only took about 30 minutes to get through the border, which wasn't bad. then vancouver is another 40 minute drive. our first stop was the kitsilano area to get lunch. it had snowed there the night before and the temp was around freezing.

we went to a place called "noodle box" that thatcher had been to before. azalea has a new-found love of asian noodle dishes, so she was thrilled. ashford - not so much, but he survived ;) it was delicious. 

next we walked over to a vegan/gluten free bakery called "edible flours" to get some treats. it was a really cute bakery and the bars/cookies we got were delicious. then we hopped in the car and drove to the maritime museum. it's located on vanier park right on the waterfront, which has an amazing view. 

the museum itself was really cool too. we got to tour a 1928 police ship, and look at the different artifacts. they also had some ship simulators that were fun for the kids. i definitely recommend it. 

next we took a scenic drive into downtown to check into our hotel. we stayed at the same place we did last time, the pinnacle. it's a very convenient location and a nice place to stay. we relaxed in the room for a bit and then headed out for dinner. we took the train to yaletown area and went to yaletown brewing company. it was very kid-friendly and good food too! and they had the olympics on, which was fun. here are a couple pictures from yaletown: 

 by the time we got back to the hotel, everyone was tired, so we all went to bed at 9:20 :) that's how it goes when we all share a room. 

the kids were both awake at 6am (ugh), but we didn't let them get up until 7. we ate a quick snack and then got our suits on to go to the pool. they were sooooo excited. i was only excited for the hot tub. haha. we ended up spending most of the time in the hot tub with a dad and his 4 year old son. the kids had a blast, but ashford kept putting his face in the water and now we're wondering if that's how he got sick :( we got ready back in the room and then walked to a place we've been to before for breakfast, called smak. we all had breakfast sandwiches. then we walked to the vancouver lookout, which is at the top of a tall building downtown. it was a clear day, so the 360 view of the city, water, and mountains was spectacular. 

next we took the train to a city called new westminster. the kids like riding the train, and thatcher wanted to check out the development there. it sort of reminded me of tacoma. they had an indoor "river market" that had food vendors, so we got some lunch there. by this time ashford was clearly not feeling well. he had been super whiney all morning, refusing to walk, and now was falling asleep. it took us a while to realize he was getting sick. poor boy :( thatcher carried him so much this morning. and he is not such a little boy anymore! we decided it was probably best to head back to vancouver and get our car to start the journey home. 

the drive back went well. ashford got some tylenol and happily played on his tablet. the wait at the border was a little longer this time (45-50 mins). we got home after 7 and gave the kids some dinner and off to bed! 

in full transparency, and since i like to remember the full picture of traveling with the kids, as always, there were many moments on this trip where i said "why did we even bother doing this?!" they whined about 80% off the things we did. they don't like to walk, even a few blocks. they don't like to ride in the car if we don't let them use the tablets. they had 1000 questions a minute and have both decided they know more about life than their parents already. ;) it was mentally exhausting. but we do it because our parents took us to see cool places when we were kids. and we have wonderful childhood memories and hopefully our children will appreciate these trips as they get older too.